Soaring pork prices convince college junior to dropout

Wang quit the Inner Mongolia Agricultural University about four months ago to help his parents raise pigs in their home county of Jingyang in the northwestern Shaanxi Province.

His decision did not surprise his father, Wang Baofeng.

“He’s helped me with the farm work since he was a child. I respect his choice,” the senior Wang said.

While his peers spent long hours writing theses and preparing for tests, Wang carefully rationed out homemade feed to the pigs, cleaned up the sties and renovated the buildings to allow more natural light in.

The economic effect was almost instant: his family earned 30,000 yuan (3,850 U.S. dollars) net from 60 pigs sold this year. Pork prices have almost doubled the last seven months due to short supply and mounting production costs.

Wang said he planned to expand his family’s operation from 100 to 1,500 pigs in five years.

“The village officials have agreed to allot 3.21 acres of land as my pig farm, but I still need a bank loan or a partner to finance the project,” he was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Concerned about the spiralling price of pork, the most favourite meat of Chinese people, the government has urged local government to encourage and offer support for pig farmers.